Having grown up in Rome with her eccentric family, Vero hatches various plans to strike out on her own…

This was enjoyable for what it was: a quirky millennial all vibes, no plot kind of novel. The writing was entertaining enough with witty moments of observation around the eccentricities of family, creativity and deceit. But honestly, it is lost on me (sorry/not sorry) why this was longlisted for the InternationalBooker2024 - it just…didn’t really give me anything beyond a good diversion between heavier books.

I know I’ve raged about autofiction in a couple of reviews lately, but it didn’t actually bother me here - first, it’s pretty low stakes, but mostly it just felt like somebody telling a story that you know is embellished for comic effect, but you don’t mind because it’s entertaining. That said, it would have probably become irksome had it been any longer.

An enjoyable all-vibes-no-plot story of a quirky millennial armed with an eccentric family and witty observations about said family and her own attempts to move out of their shadow.